The Mdantsane Arts Center

The Mdantsane Arts Center is situated in NU 1 and is funded by the Department of Arts and Culture. It has had its ups and downs in the past.

We paid a visit to the center the other day to see what is happening at the moment.

A Mural Painted On A Container At The Mdantsane Arts Center

The best visits for us are the ones that are not planned and not prepared because then we get a real feeling for a place. This day the heavens had opened their flood gates and a very fine and thin rain was pouring down on us and left us soaking wet withing seconds. The sky was dark and the light dressed all the buildings and everything else around us in an uniform grey. The cameras had to be hidden and carried under plastic bags. It felt like an end-of the world day. A feeling of wanting to go home, crept up inside of us.

But we found artists there! And not only one or two!

A Dance And A Music Instructor At The Mdantsane Arts Center

The Arts Center has a couple of fixed buildings, that host several rooms. We were able to see amongst others a dance room used by drama and dance groups for their practice, a larger workshop that hosts a women's pottery group and painters and a musical room. The other rooms were closed that day. 

On the property outside containers are set up, that serve as workshops for artists and crafters, like Welile the basket weaver whom we have already introduced to you.

Container workshops in the yard of the Mdantsane Arts Center

While we were there more artists were coming to the center instead of the heavy rain. The fact that the center was frequented so much on this day, when we paid an unannounced visit, makes it clear how important art is for every society and especially for Mdantsane. 

Art is an extremely powerful instrument not only in expressing society, but also in reforming the society from the inside. South Africa is a society that has more stories to tell than anyone can perceive. 

South Africa is a multi-cultural society in constant transformation, with a rich base of different and interesting people. The artists are the ones that can tell the stories of South Africa to the rest of the world.

We need the writers, dancers, poets, musicians, actors and filmmakers! We need them! We need them to express our lives and the times we live in!

Mural on the wall of a container

For a place like Mdantsane an art center is a necessity. That day there were so many artists but there was little space. South Africa is a country with a very high crime and unemployment rate and the townships are the spots were the left overs of the misery that South Africa's history of segregation has created can still be found in concentrated form.

What alternatives does the youth have in Mdantsane? The Art Center is an outlet for creativity and a counter measure to crime and boredom. But it could be much more than that. It could be a powerful instrument in the development of the youth. Of everyone in fact! You do not need to be young to become an artist.

There are great discussions going on concerning the number of residents, that life in Mdantsane. The official number after the last government census ranges at 400.000 and something. In our opinion this does not even come close to the actual number. But we are just speculating. 

So how can a small space like the Mdantsane Arts Center cater and accommodate the talent of the people in the township. The answer is: it cannot! 

But it could.

The rule with promoting artists is, that there has to be a certain continuity in funding. It takes a long time to develop an artist. An artist needs first of all the peace of mind to work on his talent and become better in his skill until he reaches a certain level, that satisfies him. When he reaches this level, only then is he confident to expose himself and his work to the world. 

Peace of mind you can only have when you are not hungry!

If there is no continuity in funding the process of grooming talent is interrupted and to start all over again is much more difficult. This is the story of many art centers.

Some things do not bring money but they bring good for the society at large and money has to be spend on them.

Creativity in a container

It could be a place not only to occupy the youth but to seriously groom Mdantsane's talent

The talent that walks the streets of Mdantsane can not be counted! The talent we met in one day at the arts center was impressive. We will be publishing a couple of articles about our encounters with the artists!

But we will be back for more in depth interviews and recordings.Today you are getting some impressions from the outside, especially of the beautiful murals, that decorate the outside of the containers.

Drama and Dance Group at The Mdantsane Arts Center

The way we see it is that the government should not only see the arts center as a place to keep young people occupied and keep them from the streets but to really start understanding the importance of an arts center as a place to groom seriously the talent of Mdantsane. Amen!

Sakhile Graphics Project At The Mdantsane Arts Center - Graphic Design From A Container